The Extraordinary Theorems of John Nash - with Cédric Villani

Fields medal winner Cédric Villani takes us through the very special world of mathematical creation of John Nash, who founded several new chapters of game theory and geometric analysis in just a few revolutionary contributions that seemed to come from nowhere.

On 23 May 2015, John Forbes Nash tragically died in a taxi accident, just after receiving the most prestigious award that a mathematician can dream of, the Abel Prize. This tragic episode was the last event in a life which was so full of amazing events that Nash became an icon of human genius, recipient of the Nobel Prize and hero of a Hollywood movie looking at his life marked by mental illness.

But most of all, Nash was a prophet who founded several new chapters of game theory and geometric analysis in just a few revolutionary contributions that seemed to come from nowhere. Fields medal winner, Cédric Villani takes us through this very special world of mathematical creation.

Cédric Villani is a French mathematician who works primarily on partial differential equations, Riemannian geometry and mathematical physics. He was awarded the prestigious Fields Medal in 2010 – an award often viewed as the highest honour a mathematician can receive.

He is a member of the Science and Technology Advisory Council and DIrector of the Institut Henri Poincaré.

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[rodovre]

This remarkable mathematician, always with the same eccentric look and heavy French accent, now became a member of the French parliament! Awesome to have a mathematician in politics, a new wave.

[abcde_fz]

God I wish this guy had more lectures. His voice, to a middle-of-the-road american English speaker such as myself, is so very well adapted to getting both the technical AND aesthetic nuances across, to me at least, that I could listen all day to stuff I don't even begin to understand, and still enjoy it immensely... :-)

[gresach]

A beautiful lecture, communicating with kindness and humility, so much of the spirit of mathematics

[innertubez]

This is like a science lecture delivered by a magician.

[XrollhaX]

This talk was amazing. The first 12 minutes make you realize by yourself the following minutes of the video and Cédric keeps up giving us more and more. Amazing explanation. Glad I could watch it on Youtube.

[zenon]

Un scientifique, un très grand savant ! On ne se lasse pas de l’écouter et de voyager dans le monde merveilleux de la mathématique.
Je n’ai jamais vu autant de qualités pédagogiques, toujours prêt à écouter et à expliquer. J’aurais tant voulu l’avoir comme prof ! Merci beaucoup pour le partage

[noahrathje]

Always great to have physics explained by a James Bond villain

[ClementMasson]

Brilliant talk from Cedric, as always !
That was a moving tribute. I felt quite sad at the end of the presentation, hearing the circumstances of his death. Dying just after eventually gaining one of the highest acknowledgments, which he had been waiting for most of his life ... that's so dramatic !

A tribute movie could be very good, if only it really sticked to the real fact without over-dramatizing the thing.

[Hecatonicosachoron]

I just adore his enthusiasm!
And also geometric flows and applications of diffusion equations to geometry, such a wonderful branch of maths!

[NoriMori]

I love when non-native English speakers speak English more than well enough to be understood, but don't speak in quite the same way as native speakers. They say things in the most poetic and beautifully succinct ways.

I also love when someone speaks English well and clearly but still has a really strong accent; there's something really satisfying about it.

[vootman]

Aside from being a genius, He's an excellent teacher...something really needed these days.

[tulliusagrippa]

Thank you Cédric for a fascinating and very illuminating lecture.

[friedrichbaumgarten]

His introduction has so much of literary beauty; I know he has quite high brow a literaric background but fairly unexpected; it is something mathematicians rarely have

[tobalaba]

Thank you Cédric and Royal Institution, from Argentina.

[vprcic]

"Here, let me show you an example." Camera: full frontal view. "See here how it changes..." Camera: better change to the left!

[TwelfthRoot]

I like how @ 41:49 he mentions conductor because a few years ago I was watching a completely unrelated video to math about a classical music awards ceremony in France and a pianist that I admire (Cyprien Katsaris) was getting an award. Well I spotted Dr. Villani in the the crowd. Of course I emailed the video to him for confirmation. He confirmed and laughed because I recognized him.

Dr. Villani used to be a serious piano student when he was younger.

[baptistewxpolpodcast]

Cédric is a national treasure ! Brillant exposé

[NomadUniverse]

Incredibly interesting and intriguing speaker.

[amgu]

What a delightful introduction to this most engaging speaker. I may have remembered more maths had I been taught by in such a way.

[albertoohashi]

Amazing presentation about Nash achievements with simple words